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Thursday, June 25, 2015

After hours of looking at pre-made reading lists for college students and not really falling in love with any of them, I found this list on Book Riot which, instead on naming specific books, has 10 categories of books to read. By book choices are all in my Goodreads shelf.

#1 - A Shakespeare Play. My pick is As You Like It. I got to see this play in, I think, middle school and I have been wanting to read it forever. If I finish it and want to read another my 2nd choice is a Midsummer Night Dream.

#2 - A biography of a historical figure. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff. I've always been interested in Cleopatra, so I am excited to read this.

#3 - A book about a historical event or period in history. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Set in Scotland and starts out in 1945 before the main character Claire wakes up in 1743.

#4 - A classic (Pre 1910). I have been slowly working my way through The Count of Monte Cristo for a while and want to finish it this summer.

#5 - A modern classic (Post 1910). The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. This book is such a cult classic I figured I would give it a try.

#6 - Dystopia novel. I have been wanting to read the Divergent series for a while now and so I figured I'd add this to the list.

#7 - Young Adult. I chose the book Cinder. I know #6 and #7 are both young adult and set in Dystopian societies, but I couldn't help myself.

#8 - Non-fiction. #Girlboss. A memoir by the CEO and Founder of Nasty Gal.

I did skip #9 since I'm not very interested in politics. Might read Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly.

#10 - Graphic Novel. Instead of a novel I chose a manga, I want to finish this series called V.B. Rose (Velvet Black Rose).

At the end of the summer, I'll do an update on how far I got through the list.

What are some of the books you guys are loving right now or planning on for the summer?

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Two days ago I got news that rocked my world. One of my friends that I have known since I was in 6th grade (now 9 years) died in a tragic accident. At first no one in our middle school group knew what had happened, but one of my friends found a news article stating he was hit by a metrolink train. I still can't bring myself to read the article.

I can't describe in words how surreal it is to lose a friend so suddenly and someone who is so young. Quincy has...had, a fiance and a three month old daughter who will never know how amazing her father was. He had his whole life ahead of him and now he is just suddenly gone. That truly breaks my heart.

Quincy has been my friend since I entered middle school. He was a year older than me. All throughout middle school and even after we went to different high schools, he was really protective of me and always treated me like I was his little sister. He would call me on my birthday and sing happy birthday over the phone and it sounded hilarious because of how deep his voice was. He never worried about if he looked like a goof as long as he was having fun with our group. One year for Halloween he wore his sisters girl scout uniform just to be silly and make everyone laugh.

During middle school when I first started cutting he was one of the only people who knew, and he didn't treat me differently, but he made sure I knew he was always there for me. During my time at Concordia, on his night off from work, he and my boyfriend drove the 45 minutes to surprise me and come see me because I told them I was feeling lonely. He could always brighten up your day and would go out of his way to make you smile. He even went to my schools prom just because we asked him.

I wish I could see him to tell him that he is one of the most incredible, kindest, and most caring people I have ever met. He was more than my friend, he was a brother to me. I love him so much and I can't imagine this world without him in it. Quincy, I miss you so much, I hope some day to see you again some day. I hope you are up there somewhere looking down on us. Rest in peace my dear friend.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

After reading the little engine that couldn't a.k.a. Matthew's post on his goals for summer I was inspired by his witty and sarcastic writing to share my goals for the upcoming months with you and tried to channel a bit of his style into this post.

I hope you find my goals entertaining and interesting. I wanted to write about something other than the typical summer agenda of a majority of school kids: sleep until noon every day and go to the beach.

Without any further ado, here are my ten summer goals:

1. Read 5 books.
Since starting college I have fallen so behind on reading anything aside from what was assigned. I used to have at least two personal books in my backpack at any given time. Seriously, in middle school I would get in trouble for reading in class, get my book taken away and then just pull out a different book!

Will probably create a summer reading list on my Goodreads account.

2. Find a job.
This one is a must since I have moved and am now currently unemployed. My boyfriend keeps making jokes about being my “sugar daddy” in the mean time! As much as I love him, and that he is offering, being a grown up I unfortunately have bills that call my name every month.

3. Be more active on my blog and writing in general.
I have had this idea for a book in my head for years and I have written bits and pieces so I want to try and put that together.

I seriously neglect this blog during the school semesters and I feel bad about it, but unfortunately for the past year and a half I have been overloading myself when it comes to school and work and I barely have had time for sleep.

So believe me when I say that for the time I don’t have a job, I am taking advantage of sleep as much as I can!

4. Kick ass in my summer classes.
Since I am a double major I have a ridiculous amount of classes I need to take before I can transfer to a four-year university. My goal is to graduate from community by spring of 2016, however, that is looking harder and harder. So I am taking two classes online to try and ease the amount I have to take the coming year.

Or so I tell myself as I will likely continue in my overachieving, put too much work on myself, ways… Wish me luck!

5. Get my life in order.
Ah yes, the ever present, daunting task that every young adult, well really all adults, must face.

Can we all agree that it is ridiculous that in your senior year of high school you still have to ask for permission to use the restroom and then a mere months later upon graduation, you are expected to have your entire future figured out. Um, what?

So this one probably wont be completed this summer, but I can still try.

6. Come to terms with the fact that I am no longer a teenager.
Seriously! I find it so crazy that tomorrow is my 20th birthday! Where in the world has the time gone! I feel like just a short time ago I was still in middle school! Well it doesn’t help that I still get told I look like I am in middle school… But now I am a full blown adult with bills and independence and, and….can I just have nap time back???

Speaker box: “Hi, welcome to McDonalds can I take your order?”
Me: “Um yeah, food that is good…um just give me one of everything. And don’t forget the extra large oreo McFlurry.”

What am I doing with my life?

8. Get ripped.
Highly unlikely I will come out of this summer with washboard abs and a thigh gap (don’t really care about the gap anyway) but I would just like to get toned up. I think it is ridiculous that I am considered on the high edge of overweigh. I am supposed to be between 115-130. I am barely over that, well like 15 pounds over that but still. Shall we revisit number 7?

However, I do want to do a cosplay of Selene from Underworld and if I am getting into a spandex body suit, there will be no jiggle. I WILL DEFEAT THE JIGGLE! MWAHAHAHA!

9. Find the Holy Grail.
Or you know I could just rewatch the movie for the millionth time and laugh at the Monty Python cast and annoy my friends for the next two days with non-stop quotes from the movie. If you haven’t seen it, drop everything because your life is not complete until you do.

10. Go to the river.
I have lived about a 10 minute drive from the beach my entire life and it is really strange not being that close. But on the upside there is a cool lake nearby that allows swimming and has barbecues so that sounds like a fun weekend.

What are some of your goals for this summer? Anything life changing planned as we once again celebrate the two months we have to catch up on sleep and our social lives?